St. Clair Streetcar Public Art - Part Five

On Monday, UrbanToronto began a series of articles examining the newly completed artworks which have been installed on St. Clair streetcar shelters as part of the Transit Improvement Project. We began covering stops in the east and have moved progressively west to the terminal stop at Keele today. If you have missed the earlier installments, the other parts in the series are here: 1, 2, 3 and 4.

The stop at Laughton features the final piece of art in the multi-media category, a group that has certainly brought some very unique patterns and images to the street. Colour Transit by Nestor Kruger uses the primary colours represented through straw-like tubes and places them together, waving in and out. It mercifully diverts your eyes from the unsightly hydro tower across the street.

This glass piece at Silverthorne station was created by Vid Ingelevics who named it Art / Work. It echoes the historical importance of the streetcar and rail to both St. Clair and Toronto. The images were reproduced from the City of Toronto archives and when viewed together, form a complete arc of rail track.

'Kaleidoscope' by Ryan Livingstone, at Old Weston. Image by Marcus Mitanis, 2011.07.04

'Kaleidoscope' by Ryan Livingstone, at Old Weston. Image by Marcus Mitanis, 2011.07.04

Ryan Livingstone’s artwork at Old Weston is appropriately named Kaleidoscope. The digital interlay is a collage of colour, shapes and patterns printed onto four glass panels. The red in the sheets of glass mingle nicely with the iconic streetcar design.

Keele, the final stop in the series, has been beautified by Mimi Gellman who created art that plays with the environment. Invisible Rivers takes the scenery of the waterways and places it above ground, giving the impression of fish swimming in the sky. It is interesting to note that the artwork is one of the few on the line that changes tint and shade depending on the weather, because of its transparency.

Public art and the TTC are no strangers to each other. Over the past decade we have seen some substantial improvements to the public realm that have often come in the form of attractive art. Museum, Bayview, and now St. Clair have all been transformed into something more than just a route of travel. Hopefully initiatives like this will continue to please and surprise passersby, as some colour and intrigue is injected into our city.

Once more, if you want to learn about the renewed streetcar line, take a look at the St. Clair ROW thread in the forums.

Now that you have seen all twenty-four installations, do you have favourites? What are your thoughts on the project? Get involved by leaving a comment or question below.